Final farewell to Fort Wayne Marine killed in NATO training exercise
FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Friends and loved ones will say goodbye Sunday to a U.S. Marine who was killed last month during a NATO training exercise.
Capt. Matthew Tomkiewicz, 27, was one of four Marines killed March 18 when an Osprey aircraft crashed in a Norwegian town in the Arctic Circle during an exercise called Cold Response.
Tomkiewicz graduated from Homestead High School in Fort Wayne in 2012 and later received a bachelor’s degree from Purdue Polytechnic Institute.
He joined the Marines in 2015 and served as a MV-22B Osprey pilot with Marine Medium Tilrotor Squadron 261, Marine Aircraft group 26, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing out of Marine Corps Air Station in New River, North Carolina.
On Saturday, people lined the streets of Fort Wayne to honor Tomkiewicz as his body was carried from the 122nd Fighter Wing Base in Fort Wayne to the D.O. McComb & Sons Tribute Center.
The public is invited to pay their respects during Sunday’s funeral procession from the tribute center to Parkview Field. The procession will start around noon.